I turned, draping my legs across his lap, so I could snuggle into him.
“No, Daddy,” I mumbled. “Don’t be surprised if he shows up here. I told him he was overreacting, and he promptly lost his shit.”
Kip hummed and stroked his fingers through my hair. I leaned heavier into him, loving how he comforted me.
“If he shows up, then we’ll all sit down and talk things out sensibly,” he said.
I snorted a laugh. “Sensible is not even in Hudson’s vocabulary. Do you want to know how he and Kreed ended up together? HemanipulatedKreed. Kreed was his stepfather, Daddy.” Kip never stopped his ministrations, seeming unaffected by that news. “If Hudson sets his mind to something, there isnostopping him. He’s the least sensible person I know.” I tucked my face against his broad chest. “Where’s Mommy?”
Calling Kip and Michelle by those titles was as easy as breathing. It wasright. And it settled me to know I had not just one buttwopeople who were allmineand wanted methis much. Wanted totake care of me. It meant the fucking world to me.
“She’s in the shower.” He scraped his nails along my scalp, and I swear, I nearly purred. “Do you remember where you left your car,chibi? We’ll need to go pick it up.”
“At the park off 7th Street. It’s fine for a little while longer. Trust me, if my gut is right and Hudson is on his way here, we don’t want to be missing when he arrives. He’ll just grow more irate, and he’s already pretty pissed with me as it is.”
“Does he know?” Kip asked.
“Know what?” I asked, playing stupid.
“Don’t play dumb with me,chibi,” Kip warned. He gripped my hair and gently pulled my head back so I was forced to look up at him. “Does he know about what you’ve been going through?”
I blew out a soft breath.
“No,” I mumbled.
“It’s ultimately your decision if he knows or not, but I feel he deserves to know. You’ve turned yourself into a wreck,chibi. And he was clearly worried about you. He’s yourfamily. Not the people who violated you and brought you into this world.Himand Kreed.”
I shook my head, my throat feeling tight.
“What if he thinks of me differently?” I rasped.
“If he truly loves and cares about you,chibi, he won’t think any differently of you. He’ll be worried and angry, yes, but that anger won’t be aimed at you. It’ll be aimed at who hurt you. I only met your best friend once, but he’s protective of you, and he wants to take care of you, just as Michelle and I do.”
“Not in the same way,” I rushed to say.
Kip laughed. “No, not in the same way. Hudson is just very much an alpha male, and I think a part of him recognizes the submissive side of you. I could sense it when I met him. He rolls right over you, which I’m not particularly a fan of because you still have your own voice and opinions, but his heart is in the right place.”
“That’s Hudson for—” A loud banging started up on the front door, and I sighed. “Bet that’s Hudson,” I grumbled just as Mercy began barking and growling, the fur on her back standing up. She jumped onto the couch and stood over my legs just as Kip got up.
“What the fuck?” Michelle yelled, rushing out of the bedroom, brush in hand, wet hair hanging around her shoulders. She was wearing a pair of leggings that hugged hercurves and a crop top that left her midriff exposed, as well as the tattoos that covered her torso. It took me a long time to rip my gaze from her. She was so damn beautiful. My fingers twitched with the urge to touch her.
“Hudson is here,” Kip informed us, which felt more like a warning as he opened the door, revealing an angry Hudson and an exasperated, annoyed Kreed.
“I apologize for his behavior,” Kreed told Kip.
“I fucking don’t,” Hudson snarled, his eyes locked on me. Mercy snarled, baring her teeth at him. Hudson didn’t give two fucks that a dog looked ready to rip him to shreds. “You and I need to fucking talk.”
Chapter Sixteen
Kip
I clicked my tongue at Mercy, and after one last warning growl to Hudson, who she clearly deemed a threat to Corvus’s safety, she sat down right in Corvus’s lap. Corvus wrapped his arms around her and pressed his face against her side, staring at Hudson with something akin to trepidation in his gaze. Protectiveness for my boy slid through my veins, even if I knew Hudson would never actually hurt Corvus.
Sighing, I turned back to Hudson, who was staring down my boy with anger and disappointment glimmering in his green eyes.
“What’sactuallygoing to happen,” I stated calmly, “is that we’re all going to sit down like sensible adults and have acalmconversation about Corvus’s actions last night.” I opened the door wider. “Please take a seat, and donotspeak to my boy like that again.”
Hudson sneered at me, his upper lip curling at me in disgust.
